18th over: England 109-5 (Sciver 50, Beaumont 0) Ismail is given her last over at this point as South Africa look to break this partnership and she should have had a run out to celebrate straight away but Chetty fumbles a difficult take from a too-low throw from Kapp in the deep. Then Brunt digs out a really fine slower ball and sends it to the ropes with a brilliant on-drive. But the fun doesn’t last and she perishes next ball. They crossed, so Sciver faces the next ball which she nudges fine to the boundary for four and then clips a single to reach a terrific half-century. Ismail ends with 1-26 from four.

17th over: England 98-4 (Sciver 45, Brunt 3) Lovely, clever cricket from Sciver as she advances to Khaka and just helps the ball over the top of the keeper with a superb ramp shot for four. An eagerly-run two ensues. A mow in front of square on the leg brings two more. Life comes at you fast in T20 and there’s a sense England have got themselves right back in the game in these past two overs.

16th over: England 88-4 (Sciver 36, Brunt 2) At last, England unshackle themselves as Sciver swipes Mlaba over the ropes for a timely SIX. After an easy single, her partner, Brunt, misses a drive but scampers a leg-bye to give the strike back to Sciver, who expertly finds the gap at wide long-on for another four. England might be behind the game here but they’ll be glad to have these two, particularly Sciver, out there at the minute. Though Brunt is well bamboozled by Mlaba last ball, swiping and missing.

15th over: England 75-4 (Sciver 24, Brunt 2) Van Niekerk completes her allocation of overs with another decent display of middle-overs bowling. And, frustrated, England lose a wicket as Wilson holes out desperately. Brunt, who can be handy at this stage of an innings, is sent out at No 6 and is off the mark with a scoop over the keeper’s head. The Proteas’ captain ends with figures of two for 20 from four.

Wicket! Wilson c Ismail b Van Niekerk 14, England 72-4

14th over: England 69-3 (Sciver 21, Wilson 12) South Africa give Ismail a third over, and are rewarded with more accurate parsimony, mostly just back of a length but never wayward and England can’t break the chains. Three singles from the over. There hasn’t been a boundary since the 10th.

13th over: England 66-3 (Sciver 19, Wilson 12) The canny Van Niekerk continues, and continues to keep England on a leash at a time when they really need to start finding or clearing the ropes. That they can’t is testament to smart field placing on the legside in particular, though Wilson manages a two from the fifth ball of the over.This pair have been together for five overs now and probably nee

12th over: England 60-3 (Sciver 17, Wilson 8) The effervescent Ismail comes back into the attack, beating Sciver for pace outside off stump and then inducing a slightly mistimed pull for one thanks to the pace she generates off the surface. She mixes up her pace too to keep the batters guessing – and South Africa on top. Terrific bowling.

11th over: England 56-3 (Sciver 15, Wilson 6) A bit of a middle-overs-meander vibe (ask your grandad) about England’s run rate at the moment, leisurely singles but not a lot more. Four singles and a hastily scrambled two, which requires confirmation from the TV umpire that Sciver was in, from Van Niekerk’s over.

10th over: England 50-3 (Sciver 13, Wilson 2) Wilson misses a reverse sweep that might have been called wide, but isn’t, then misses a conventional sweep that prompts an unconvincing lbw shout from Mlaba, the bowler. And then misses a slog that the keeper, Chetty, can’t convert into a stumping, though they send it upstairs for a check. She finally connects and scores a run with – you guessed it – a reverse sweep. Sciver, upon whom much now depends, then shows the way by blootering a low full toss to the long-on boundary for four.

9th over: England 45-3 (Sciver 9, Wilson 1) The captain, Van Niekerk, brings herself and her right-arm spin on, and it pays off second ball thanks to Ismail’s superb catch in the deep. A reverse paddle for one gets Wilson off the mark, but it’s one of only two runs from the over.

8th over: England 43-2 (Sciver 8, Knight 6) The spinner Mlaba returns from the opposite end to where she opened the innings, and Knight paddles her first ball fine on the leg side for one. They’re getting them in ones at the moment, as the left-armer tucks them up, and England must be content with an over of five singles. Gaps are no longer being found and South Africa look hungry in the field.

7th over: England 38-2 (Sciver 6, Knight 3) Khaka continues, swinging into the right-handers to decent effect. Knight clips a single before Sciver, as she can do, takes advantage of a rare overpitched ball, lunging forward and belting it on the full straight past the bowler for a rare (of late) four.

6th over: England 31-2 (Sciver 1, Knight 1) Kapp is given a third over on the bounce, and Sciver is off the mark with a nudge off her hips. Knight gets on the scoreboard too with a high square cut for another single. Kapp is giving a becalmed England very little to work with here, though she does stray down the legside for a wide, generally hitting that off-stump corridor just back of a length, and the dot balls pile up. SA very much on top at the moment. As Nasser in the commentary box says, 31-2 is low off a powerplay at this ground.

5th over: England 28-2 (Sciver 0, Knight 0) Ayabonga Khaka replaces Ismail and strikes first ball, Wyatt bunting it on the full to Lee at backward point. Kaka doesn’t have the pace of Ismail and Kapp but gets swing in the air, and forces the captain, Knight, to be watchful, which she needs to be for a bit after that double blow. This is a good over from the 27-year-old.

4th over: England 26-1 (Wyatt 2, Sciver 0) Good bowling from Kapp who cramps up an advancing Jones with a slightly shorter one, though the opening batter still manages to nudge it round the corner for one. Wyatt, facing only her second ball, makes it two from two with a quick single. Good fielding in the deep then prevents two becoming three for Jones, who then perishes with an ill-advised thwack. England send out Nat Sciver next, who runs a quick single off the last ball of a good over.

They’re playing some decent between-overs, between-balls music on the PA here (if you like that sort of thing) - Talking Heads, Human League, Abba, Dizzy Rascal. Although time and a place and all that.

Wicket! Jones c Tryon b Kapp 23, England 25-1

Jones’s first bad bit of cricket is punished, trying to loft a back of a lenghth ball that wasn’t really loftable and scooping up towards extra cover where Tryon takes a comfortable catch. Big scalp for South Africa as Jones had been playing beautifully

3rd over: England 21-0 (Jones 20, Wyatt 1) Ismail comes into the attack, having been spurned for the first over, and Wyatt drives the first ball she’s faced so far for a single, before Jones punctures the infield again with a magnificent back-foot push for four. Two more follow when Jones doesn’t quite get hold of a short one and pulls it past mid-on. Another slightly mistimed pull brings another single, Ismail digging it in short in general here.

“This World Cup has been a treat to follow so far,” trills our old friend Abhijato Sensarma. “The emotions, the debutants, the excellent atmosphere, and the close finishes have all made for an exceptional start to the tournament. The women’s game has grown exponentially since the 50-over event in 2017. Matches such as these only improve their appeal. Hopefully the momentum continues today, and we’re treated to another thriller.”

2nd over: England 13-0 (Jones 13, Wyatt 0) Getting a bit blowy out there, as is the custom, and South Africa opt for pace at the other end, Kapp swinging a ripper past Jones’s outside edge to introduce herself using the breeze and the seam expertly. She’s got 77 T20i caps for a reason. But Jones finds the boundary with her fourth ball, adeptly finding the gap between midwicket and mid-on with a deliciously timed clip. A good-cricket-all-round kind of over. Four runs, five dots.

1st over: England 9-0 (Jones 9, Wyatt 0) There’s a good and noisy South Africa following in as Mlaba, the left-arm spinner, is surprisingly tossed the new ball and England opt for their conventional opening pair of Jones, who plays here in the WBBL, and Wyatt. Mlaba is accurate, tossing it up and into the slot, and gets two dots to start with before Jones leathers a full toss past mid-off for four. Jones is even classier next ball, advancing and lofting over mid-off for four more. Good confident start from a good confident batter.

This is the third match on this pitch in two days, though as Hazel Potter points out, that’s under 80 overs in total, so we’re still talking about a first-day surface in old money. The chasing team won both yesterday’s matches of course.

South Africa win the toss and bowl

Dane van de Niekerk reckons defending here in the BBL was a bit tricky, so would rather chase. Heather Knight says she’d have done likewise. She says the team have sat down and regrouped since the Ashes under a new coach and with new younger players and is looking forward to show the work the team have done.

Yesterday’s match in this group, also at the Waca, saw West Indies eventually cruise to a seven-wicket victory over Thailand, while the same venue also hosted an eventually comfortable win by the same margin for New Zealand over the Sri Lanka side that eviscerated England in a warm-up last week.

And while we’re waiting for the toss, have yourselves an Anya Shrubsole interview:

The Spin | World Twenty20: Anya Shrubsole looks to go all the way with England

Preamble

Morning/evening everyone, and welcome to what is likely to be the pivotal fixture in Group B. An England side in transition and under new management, in the form of coach Lisa Keightley, but still boasting plenty of big tournament experience, take on a South Africa team with a historically poor record in this competition but who are improving and are certainly capable of mounting a challenge this time.

England had a bit of a chastening past year, having been well beaten in the Ashes last English summer and edged out of the recent Tri Series by Australia and India, but you’d still fancy them to make the final, with a fair wind. Talking of wind, that brings us to Perth and the fact today’s match is being played at the dear old Waca, fabled fast bowlers’ paradise of yore, though it might be in the spin department that England are currently strongest, with Sophie Ecclestone a serious threat and a relative dearth of seam options behind Anya Shrubsole and Katherine Brunt.

South Africa have progressed from their group only once in this competiton’s 11-year history but boast plenty of BBL experience in their ranks, which can count for a lot here. Pace bowlers Marizanne Kapp and Shabnim Ismail are capable of giving England the hurry-up and Lizelle Lee, who has 1,434 T20i runs to her name at a strike rate of 107 will threaten at the top of the order.